In archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels as well.
Occasionally, a piece of broken pottery may be referred to as a shard, or the more precise term potsherd can be used. While the word shard is generally reserved for referring to fragments of glass vessels (possibly as the word is reminiscent of — though not etymologically related to — "sharp") the term does not necessarily exclude pottery fragments.
A sherd or potsherd with writing painted or inscribed on it can be more precisely referred to as an ostracon.
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